Hingis Wins 2nd Match, Pierce Folds at Australian Open

Posted on January 19, 2006

The weighty expectations of facing comeback kid Martina Hingis in the next round and immediate Czech opponent Iveta Benesova combined to derail No. 5 seed Mary Pierce's chances Thursday at the Australian Open, with the oft-choking Frenchwoman losing 6-3, 7-5 in her second-round match.

Pierce, who blew set points in the second, had previously beaten Benesova in both their career meetings without dropping a set, last year in Antwerp allowing the Czech only three games.

"She can play much better definitely, but she gave me the chances, and I'm happy I could use them," said Benesova, who contributed to losses by seven of the 14 seeded players in action on the day. "This is definitely the best win in my whole career. It's good that it happened at a Grand Slam, especially. It's the best tournament for me. I'm so excited. I'm really happy."

The unseeded former No. 1 Hingis steamrolled Emma Laine 6-1, 6-1, and will now face Benesova in the third round.

"Maybe all these three years, I freshened up a little," Hingis said of her time off the tour. "I'm just really enjoying every second of being around here."

No. 2 seed Kim Clijsters once again overcame her painful hip injury to advance into the third round, benefiting from a Chinese opponent from the qualifying ranks whose only strategy seemed to be hitting the ball down the center of the court, allowing the Belgian an ease of movement to apply her trade.

"I feel like I'm a little bit restricted, especially with the serve," said Clijsters, who defeated Yuan Meng 6-4, 6-2. "I feel like I'm just using my arm out there. I feel like I'm not really doing too much with my movement. But overall I feel like I'm hitting the ball well. I'm hitting the ball clean, I'm seeing the ball well. That's why it's even more frustrating because just imagine if I would be feeling fine. It would be a great feeling to have, just playing well and not having too many other things going on."

Other seeded winners were (3) Amelie Mauresmo (d. Loit), (7) Patty Schnyder (d. Asagoe), (12) Anastasia Myskina (d. Jackson in three), (15) Francesca Schiavone (d. Castano in three), (16) Nicole Vaidisova (d. Chakvetadze), and (20) Flavia Pennetta (d. Sucha, bagel in the second).

Myskina struggled mightily in the heat with her breathing, using an inhaler on the changeovers during a second-set 0-6 loss to come back and win in three.

Six other seeds met their demise Thursday in the mid-90s heat in (19) Dinara Safina (l. to Swede Sofia Arvidsson, bagel in the second), (21) Ana Ivanovic (l. to Sam Stosur), (22) Anna-Lena Groenefeld (l. to Maria Sanchez Lorenzo 6-1 in the third), (27) Marion Bartoli (l. to Roberta Vinci in three), (31) Gisela Dulko (l. to Aiko Nakamura 1-and-1), and (32) Sania Mirza (l. to Michaella Krajicek).

"I think the match was pretty winnable, but that is how it is," said Mirza who played with a taped knee. "It is hard when you are not playing your best tennis and the other girl's coming from winning a tournament...The bottom line is I did not play up to my standard and did not play well. Of course I'd love to have done better. But it's the beginning of the year and I just have to put it behind me."

In the only other all-unseeded meeting on the day, Austria's Sybille Bammer joined Hingis in the third round, straight-setting China's Yan Zi.

Scheduled for Friday in Melbourne are (4) Maria Sharapova vs. the Croat Kostanic, (1) Davenport vs. (25) Kirilenko, (17) Hantuchova vs. (13) Serena, (8) Henin-Hardenne vs. Razzano, (14) Kuznetsova vs. Santangelo, Vesnina vs. Savchuk, Granville vs. Ruano Pascual, and (6) Petrova vs. Camerin.